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Top Five Bazaars of Zanzibar!

The markets of Zanzibar are its life; it brings together people not just to shop, but also to socialise and make interesting conversations over numerous cups of black coffee on the street side.

I have not always been interested in busy markets, and I must thank M for introducing me to the pleasure of people watching. As I got interested in people photography, markets became crucial to my interest.

So here is a list of my five favourite markets in the gorgeous Stone Town of Zanzibar!

Darajani Bazaar

This is the market where the entire city comes together to shop for regular daily supplies and for other essential activities like a shave in the morning :)

You can buy clothes, shoes, food and almost everything else. I met some really interesting people here, including a coffee seller who was making coffee from a coffee maker which was made in Delhi, India. I was the star of the gathering though we could barely communicate in any common language :)

The barber posing for me :)

Fruit Bazaar

Africa has some relay interesting fruits which are most commonly found there, and some of the most popular ones are Mangoes, Jackfruits and Baobab fruit.

Take a walk around the fruit market and also buy some fruits and sample them. Since I was there on a shoe-string budget, I also had meal of these highly affordable and delicious fruits. By the way, the market is also an awesome place to take some cool pictures :)

Grapes & Apricots

Some fun times at the fruit market :)

Spices Bazaar

Historically Zanzibar has been known as the 'Spice Island'. It was a major centre for trading of spices from India and other Asian countries. From the 16th Century onwards Europeans also arrived here to trade in spices. From the 18th Century onwards Zanzibar also became a spice producing island.

Its not just the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric etc which are common here, but also Vanilla. You can also buy some Zanzibar coffee here as well. I picked the simple coffee and another flavoured one - Vanilla Coffee!

Spice market also has some fruits and vegetables

Spices on display!

Fish Bazaar

To me this was one of the most interesting places to visit for me. I have been visiting fish markets across the world, most recently in Spain, Melbourne and now in Zanzibar.

You can see all exotic fishes here, including octopus, sharks, silver fish and star fish. People are quite friendly in the market and everyone smiled for my camera as well, though they were very curious to see an Indian suddenly so interested in taking pictures. There are a few Indians settled here, but they are all businessmen and never really travellers who like to make unusual images :)

Shiny silver fish

The busy Fish Market

Tourist Bazaar

And finally the bazaar of souvenirs which is most commonly frequented by the tourists. I would certainly recommend walking through these markets as well, as the stuff in there is actually quite beautiful.

You can buy masks, harem pants, slippers and many many others vintage-looking thing. However, I recommend you see them but buy stuff from the actually maker which are deeper into the Stone Town.

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I am an India based Designer, Blogger, Photographer and Travel writer. I enjoy travelling as much as sharing my stories and photographs from around the world with people to inspire them to make even more wonderful journeys themselves :)

I call myself 'The Wanderer' as I often love to just wander about in the places I visit - to meet new people, see new places and to just soak in new experiences. Often its the unexpectedness of the moment which makes it so memorable...